Hidden
by purplerayz
Summary: Reid disappears at a house the team is searching, and only he knows how close, yet so far, the team is to finding him.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**This story will be largely from Reid's point of view, so you won't get much of the rest of the team until later chapters. I debated adding the team's point of view too in these beginning chapters, but I decided to do it this way in the end. So, sorry if that bums you out. It bums part of me out too, but the unbummed (is that a word?... well, it is now) side of me won out.**

**Anyways, enjoy! ****I appreciate reviews and comments!**

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Reid sifted through the few papers in his hand. Nothing of interest, so he moved on to the next. It was hard to find what you're looking for when you didn't even know exactly _what_ you were looking for. It was very likely he wasn't going to find it at all.

He was searching through some papers that didn't belong to him but to the unsub they were searching for. They had called the man's employer and found he hadn't shown up today. No surprise there. They searched for the next expected option: the man's house. That's where he and the team were now. They had come up empty handed in their search for the unsub within the place, though, and were now scattered throughout the house, trying to find some indication to where he might have gone.

Reid was in the man's office, still donning his Kevlar vest, but his gun was now holstered. He was hoping to find something of use in the room, but having no such luck. It was a regular, organized office with no documents indicating a possible second location for the unsub to flee to. He wasn't even sure if the unsub would have a second location. Something was off in their profile. The unsub spends a lot of time with his victims, so he wouldn't want to be far away from them. They profiled that the he would have a place in his house where he keeps them, probably a room in the basement, but there was none.

They also predicted that he records his time with his victims so he could relive the experience whenever he wanted—needed, was probably a more accurate term. But there was no evidence of that either. No video recorder, tapes, and nothing from what they could see on his laptop. Garcia was working further on that to be sure.

This second discrepancy, unlike the first, had a plausible explanation, though: the unsub was a medical examiner. The very same medical examiner that performed the autopsies on the victims, in fact. He didn't necessarily need the tapes; he could relive the torture as he did the autopsy and for as long as the body was sitting in the morgue. All while doing this right under the local police and the team's nose.

There was an unknown pattern to the time between the abduction, death, and the next abduction until they realized the medical examiner was the unsub. They now knew the delay after the dumping of a body until the next abduction was the amount of time that same body had been sitting in the morgue. Once the body was released, the unsub could no longer relive his acts, and he moved to his next victim. So far, there had been four, one since the team had started working on the case.

The latest victim's body was still in the morgue, but it still wasn't quite safe to assume there wasn't another victim yet. From the looks of it, the unsub might have figured out they were on to him. If he did, then he may begin to devolve and move to his next victim quicker. That possibility was made more likely by the fact that he wouldn't be able to view the body in the morgue. Since he hadn't shown up for work today, the unsub probably knew that.

Reid looked around the small office space. He was sure he had looked through everything, but he glanced around to double check that he hadn't missed anything. He was about to leave the office when there was an indiscernible noise behind him. Nearly at the same moment, a hand suddenly clamped over his mouth. Shock and confusion prevented his reaction from being as quick as it needed to be. An arm also wrapped around his neck in a choke-like hold, and he lost his footing as he was forcefully pulled backwards.

He tried to ignore his extreme confusion and instead focus on escaping the unknown assailant's grasp. His own hands reached to the ones gripped at his mouth and neck. He felt like he couldn't breathe with the pressure on his neck and the inability to breathe through anything but his nose. He tried to twist and struggle out of the grasp while he was dragged backwards, but whoever had a hold on him was much stronger than he was. And he couldn't even call out for help.

It happened almost too quickly to even understand what was going on. If he had been thinking more rationally instead of concentrating completely on getting loose, he would have realized he was being dragged directly into a wall.

But there was no wall. Not anymore. Reid's eyes widened as he and his attacker passed through the wall's threshold. There was an open door there that had not been there before. There must have been a hidden door in the wall, and it must have been hidden very well, because Reid hadn't noticed a thing out of place.

His attacker suddenly twisted around and pushed him roughly to the floor. The back of his head hit hard on the wooden floor beneath him and left him dazed. The room became darker, not because of his nearly blacking out, but because his attacker had closed the door in the office wall, blocking off the excess light. He tried to get his hands to move, to reach for the gun at his hip, but his dazed state left his actions hindered. By the time his hand reached his gun, his attacker was already removing the piece from its holster.

His thoughts were beginning to clear again, but not quick enough for his liking. Before he could attempt to call out for help, the hand clamped down on his mouth once again, and his attacker was on top of him, straddling him in a way that prevented him from twisting and moving out from underneath him. Reid continued struggling, trying to twist his head to the side and pull the hands away, but the man's strength and leverage over him didn't allow him to succeed. He only stopped struggling when he suddenly felt a knife being pressed hard up against his throat.

Reid stilled. If he continued struggling, the man would harm him, if not on purpose, then by accident. With the way the knife was pressing down on his neck, any movement would probably cause it to break the skin. His attacker had his gun, yet he chose to use a knife to subdue him instead. This didn't surprise Reid. It was what he was comfortable with; it was what he used on his victims.

Reid looked up at the man above him, taking his first good look at the attacker. Technically, it wasn't his first look at him, though. It was their unsub. He had just talked to this man yesterday at the morgue. It was no wonder they couldn't find him anywhere; he had never even left his house.

The man above Reid looked like he was about to say something, but paused. His head turned towards the hidden doorway, and Reid's eyes followed. He realized what had caught the man's attention. Footsteps were approaching the office. He heard the footsteps stopping in the office doorway and Morgan calling his name in question, obviously surprised not to find Reid there.

Sensing Reid's want to call out to Morgan, the unsub pressed his hand more firmly against Reid's mouth, and the knife pressed slightly harder against his throat. It was a silent warning not to try anything that could alert Morgan to their presence behind the wall. As they waited, the only sound that could be heard throughout the hidden room was Reid's still heavy breathing through his nose, but it was hardly loud enough to be heard through the wall.

Reid could see the shadow of Morgan's feet through the tiny slit under the hidden door as Morgan took a couple steps further into the office, as if Reid could be hiding somewhere in the room, and paused. Apparently deciding to go look elsewhere for Reid, Morgan's footsteps grew quieter as he left the room and walked away from the office, the unsub, and Reid.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

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Reid's eyes slowly slid open, and he began to examine the room around him. It was small, yet large enough to serve its purpose. He thought back to the office and recalled the layout of the unsub's house. The hidden room was located near the center of the home. Reid bet that each room immediately surrounding this one was a little smaller than it was supposed to be, but unless someone took the time to measure it out, they likely wouldn't notice.

The room was poorly lit. A single, dim bulb was attached to the ceiling above him. There wasn't much in the room. Against one wall, a small desk held computer screens, and in front of those screens stood Jordan Pierce. He was staring intently at the screens, and as Reid looked to see what held his interest, he realized the screens showed video feeds of the house. He was watching the team, and Reid figured he had also been watching them before, waiting for the right opportunity to grab him without anyone being close enough to the room to notice.

Reid took note that he was lying on a small table of some sort, one that resembled an autopsy table way too much for his liking. After Morgan had walked away from the office, Pierce had taken his gun and hit him over the head with it. He didn't think he could have been unconscious for very long, but it had been enough time for Pierce to move him onto the table. His right temple throbbed slightly from the hit, but he didn't think it had broken skin.

Again, Reid could only breathe through his nose, but this time, it was duct tape that was preventing him from opening his mouth. His wrists were cuffed above his head—with his own handcuffs, he realized dismally—and they were somehow linked to the table. His ankles were strapped to the table with Pierce's homemade belts. Reid was sure they would match the ligature marks found on all of the victims. There were straps near his hips for his wrists as well, but for some reason, Pierce had decided to use Reid's handcuffs instead.

His pockets felt empty. He looked over to the desk. His cell phone, badge, and gun were setting on an empty space near a half-used roll of duct tape. His eyes traveled up as he saw movement on one of the screens. He could see Morgan approaching Hotch and starting to talk, most likely asking where Reid had gone. They would soon realize something wasn't right, that he was missing. They wouldn't know where to look, though. They wouldn't know that Reid was merely on the other side of the office wall.

He was sure that he and Pierce had left no signs of a struggle in the office. The team would have no indication of what happened, and unless Pierce had left Reid's phone on, they wouldn't even be able to trace it back to the house.

Pierce was even smarter than they had thought. He was obviously extremely careful and cautious enough to bug his own house with video recorders. Reid understood having one watching his outside door, but he was a little confused why the man would put them up inside the house. Well, whatever the reason, it was now paying off very well in Pierce's favor. Even if the team somehow found the hidden door, Pierce would be ready for them when they came through.

Pierce still hadn't noticed that Reid was awake, and he hoped to keep it that way as long as possible. He didn't know if Pierce was planning to torture him like his victims, or if he was just using the table to restrain and hold him until he figured out a plan of how to get out of this.

He definitely wanted it to be the latter, but knowing the profile, Reid was sure Pierce wouldn't be able to resist, given the chance. He had a specific victim type, but at this point, even that wouldn't matter. Pierce was stuck in here for now, and he would make do with his new 'victim'. He liked power and control over his victim; he had that. Add the fact that he had control over an FBI agent, and Pierce might even gain more satisfaction and decide his tastes had evolved.

Reid tried to tear his thoughts away from the possibilities of what Pierce might do to him. He looked back towards the monitors just as Morgan was pulling out his cell phone, presumable to call him. A moment later, the phone on the desk began to vibrate. Apparently, Pierce hadn't thought to shut it off, but he quickly remedied that mistake. The next step the team would take would be to ask Garcia to trace his cell phone, but he knew they weren't going to have any luck with that now.

Once Pierce had shut off the phone, he turned around, finally seeing that Reid was awake. In two short strides, he was standing next to the table, looking down at Reid. The knife he had threatened him with earlier was still held in his hand. When he spoke to Reid, his voice was low. The only way it might be heard through the walls was through the wall of the office. But glancing over at the video feeds, no one was in there right now, and Pierce knew that.

"I'm going to remove the tape from your mouth," Pierce informed him. "But if you scream out, I assure you, my face and this knife will be the very last thing you see, and the first one through that door will get their head blown off with a bullet from that gun of yours." He paused, making sure Reid was listening and that he understood the meaning of his threat. "Got it?"

Reid nodded slowly. He definitely got it. Not only was Pierce threatening to kill him, but also whichever one of his teammates came through the hidden doorway first once they found it. Pierce removed the duct tape from his mouth, and he was relieved to have the feeling of finally being able to breathe properly again. Pierce spoke again a moment later.

"I don't appreciate people barging into my home uninvited."

"We have a warrant," Reid responded. "That's all the invitation we needed."

"I want you all gone."

Pierce's voice was still calm. His whole demeanor was calm. This was usually the point where unsubs panicked, devolved, and made mistakes ultimately resulting in their capture, but Pierce still seemed to be completely in control of himself.

"I can't exactly leave," Reid stated, emphasizing his point by pulling slightly on the cuffs above his head.

"No," Peirce chuckled faintly, "I suppose not, Dr. Reid."

"Why'd you take me in here?" Reid finally dared to ask. "Why not just wait us out until we left?"

"That was taking too long. You'd have been here forever. Now, they know you're missing," Pierce acknowledged the video feeds of his team. "They know you're not here and will begin to search elsewhere."

Reid glanced at the screens again. Morgan and Hotch were now joined by Rossi and Prentiss in the living room. Morgan was on his phone, probably talking with Garcia. All of them had worried expressions on their faces.

Reid didn't want to mention the slight fault in Pierce's reasoning. His team was still going to be here for awhile. They would still think Pierce had a second location, and if they believed Pierce had somehow gotten past them and kidnapped Reid, they would believe Reid would be at that location as well. They would finish their search of the house first, and they would re-search anything Reid had looked through.

That thought brought a little hope to Reid. The only thing he had actually searched through by himself was the office. Pierce would most likely find a way to keep him quiet while they searched it, though. Reid hadn't noticed the doorway, but he had to think positive. Maybe one of them would notice that something was just off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

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"You know, you could leave right now."

Reid was leery about suggesting the idea to Pierce, but decided to go for it anyways. It was unlikely that it would work, but he thought it was still worth a try. On one hand, he didn't want the man to escape, but on the other, he really didn't want to be subjected to his torture. It was inevitable to come, even if it wasn't Pierce's initial plan.

If Pierce decided to take his advice, Reid would have to rely on his team somehow catching him in the act, or at the very least, finding himself in this hidden room very quickly after the fact. If Pierce didn't have time to get very far, then the team could still catch him.

"What do you mean?" Pierce asked.

"All of my team is in the living room right now," Reid clarified, glancing towards the computer screens. "You could sneak out the back without them noticing."

"I don't think so, Dr. Reid. It's too risky. You and I are just going to wait them out."

And that's exactly what Reid was afraid of. He didn't know how long that would be, so the things Pierce might do to him in that time once again popped into his mind. Even when the team finally left the house, there was a good probability that someone would be left behind to stake out the house in case Pierce decided to return. Reid tried to use that tactic instead.

"They're still going to be here for awhile, probably even longer now that I'm missing. This might be your only chance to escape."

"Even so," Pierce responded after he looked away from Reid to the screens. "It looks like that window of opportunity has now closed."

Reid saw what he meant. His team was now leaving the living room, except for Hotch, who was pulling out his cell phone. From the looks of it, they were splitting up and looking for him or any sign of what could have happened to him. Reid was so intent on watching the screens that he hadn't immediately noticed Pierce moving towards him. He tried to move his head away, but still couldn't avoid the duct tape being replaced over his mouth.

"In case you feel the need," Pierce explained. "My earlier warnings still apply."

Reid knew he meant the threat of killing him and whoever came through the hidden doorway first if he alerted them. Reid couldn't risk that happening, and he knew Pierce wouldn't go down on his word. He could see the office on one of his screens, which meant he would know if they found the door. He would have plenty of time to kill Reid and prepare to follow up on the rest of his threat.

The only thing Reid could really do was watch the screens along with Pierce. He could hear footsteps again as he saw Morgan re-enter the office, this time searching for any signs of a struggle or anything out of place.

_Please, look at the wall,_ Reid silently pleaded.

But of course, Morgan would have no reason to look at the wall. He would concentrate on everything _but_ the wall. Reid knew exactly why the door was so well hidden. The walls were wooden with vertical indentations running up the entire height of the wall, so the seams of the door blended right in. No one would notice unless they carefully inspected the wall or knew they were looking for. And the door opened all the way up to the ceiling, so there were no horizontal seams apart from the ones that blended in with the edges of the ceiling and floor. The door opened inwards toward the hidden room, but Reid bet it would need a good push to open it. Or a good kick from Morgan.

After finding nothing out of place, Morgan began to sift through the materials on the desk, much like Reid had done earlier. As Morgan looked through papers, though, his speed was much slower than Reid's. Hotch, without a word of greeting, soon joined Morgan to help search faster, but even their combined pace was slower than Reid's had been. Reid already knew they weren't going to find anything, but they didn't know that. He had never gotten the chance to tell them there was nothing of use in the office. Besides the all-too-well hidden door, that is.

It was an odd feeling. Reid could see the two of them on the computer screen, but he could hear the muffled sounds of their work through the wall. They were so close that it almost hurt to think about it. Rescue was a mere few feet away but probably wasn't going to come any time soon. He couldn't imagine how his team would feel once they did find the door, whenever that might be. Minutes, hours, days, or weeks from now, and whatever happened to him in that time, they would take it hard knowing how close they'd actually been.

Reid glanced at the other screens. It looked like Rossi and Prentiss were searching through the rest of the house, along with a few police officers, but none of their efforts were going to do any good while Reid was in this room.

Reid's attention turned back to the screen showing the office as he heard Hotch's muffled voice coming from the room next to theirs. His voice was too low to make out exactly what he was saying, and Morgan's response sounded much the same.

He wasn't sure how much time passed before Morgan and Hotch left the office, but it felt like an eternity. Once again, their footsteps grew quieter, severing Reid's last hope of them noticing the hidden door.

Pierce was smiling, no doubt proud that he was once again working right under their noses. His demeanor was somehow different than when Reid had spoken to him at the morgue yesterday. Reid thought knew why, though. Yesterday, he had to hide the fact that he could have told Reid everything he wanted to know about the bodies without actually performing any of the autopsies. Today, Pierce didn't have to hide the fact that he was the one who tortured the victims, ultimately causing their death.

The victims had all died of either exhaustion or blood loss, but with both being a factor in their death. In the days they spent in this room, they were given no food and hardly any water, if at all. Pierce's knowledge of anatomy allowed him to prolong the torture as long as he wanted. He probably only gave them water if he felt they were going to die too soon without it.

Reid really began to wonder how this was going to end. His hopes of his team finding this room before Pierce decided to 'play' were severely diminished from when he had first woken up on the table. There was also the matter of how long it would be before Pierce actually got a chance to escape. Any amount of time was too long, in Reid's opinion.

Peirce turned around to face Reid again, apparently deciding it was now safe to speak, and took a couple steps towards him. "You know what I do to them," he said, referring to his previous victims.

It was a statement, not a question, but Reid nodded slightly anyways.

"Do you know _why_ I do it?" Pierce asked.

Reid could only answer yes or no with a nod or shake of his head, but this time, he kept his head still. He had an idea what caused this man to do the things he did, but that was according to their profile. Even if he could talk, Reid was sure that wasn't the type of answer Pierce was looking for. Expecting Pierce to go on and tell him why he does it, Reid was surprised—and very unnerved—when Pierce finally spoke again.

"I've never had a male victim before."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid couldn't help the quickening pace of his breathing and heart rate as Pierce reached to his Kevlar vest and began undoing the Velcro straps. He wanted to ask what he was doing, but besides the fact that the duct tape still prevented him from speaking, the question was almost rhetorical. Reid knew exactly what was going to happen now; he'd seen the final outcomes four times before, just not from this point of view.

He wished the tape wasn't currently holding his mouth shut. Though he was sure it wouldn't do much good anyway, he would still try to talk Pierce out of it, or at the very least, postpone the inevitable by distracting him for awhile.

Still, Pierce pulled the vest off and out from underneath him and placed it in the corner of the room. Reid's eyes followed Pierce as he slowly walked back to the table. He watched nervously as Pierce lifted the knife and began to cut the buttons off of his shirt, starting with the bottom and working his way up. Reid unconsciously tried to sink into the table, but the effort wouldn't have made any difference. Pierce took pride in his work, so he was careful not to nick Reid as he cut the buttons away. He took his time while he did it, too; the actual cutting would come soon enough.

When Pierce reached the top button, he started to cut away his tie as well. The feeling of the knife being so close to his neck again caused Reid to swallow thickly and hold still. After the tie was cut, Pierce used the knife to lift up the edges of the shirt and push each half away to the side, revealing Reid's chest and abdomen. Reid had rolled his sleeves up earlier while searching the house, so the only place that was covered above his waist were the upper portions of his arms.

Pierce took the watch of Reid's wrist and put it on the desk next to the rest of his things before turning back to Reid. A chill swept through Reid's spine. He knew it wasn't solely because of his torso being exposed to the cool air in the room; it was mostly because of the look Pierce had in his eyes.

"No need to put on a brave face, Dr. Reid," Pierce said, obviously noting Reid's efforts to stay calm. "It's only you and me in here."

A thought suddenly occurred to Reid. They hadn't found any evidence that Pierce recorded his victims, but that was before he knew about this hidden room. He glanced around the small space, oddly relieved that this seemed to be the only room in the house that wasn't being recorded. Unless Pierce had taken the time to hide a recording device in this room as well as he had in the other rooms, Reid didn't think the torture was recorded.

Though he was partially relieved, something still didn't sit right with Reid about that. Even with Pierce being able to view the bodies at the morgue, he was still sure the profile should have been correct on that part.

Reid nearly jumped when he suddenly felt the cold blade of the knife press against his stomach, though it didn't cut the skin. As he looked back up at Pierce, he knew it had been done to get his attention. It worked. Moments after Reid's eyes locked with Pierce's, the blade did cut through the skin. It didn't go very deep, but it slowly dragged a few inches across his stomach, leaving a small trail of blood in its wake. Reid winced slightly but fought the urge to groan or make any noise. He didn't know how such a small cut could hurt so much.

The process was repeated several times in different areas on his torso, but Reid didn't make a sound. As he waited for the knife to come in contact with his skin for the sixth time, nothing happened. He looked up at Pierce, who had an odd frown upon his face.

"You're no fun, Dr. Reid. You're hiding your fear. No one has even tried to do that before. But then, I suppose it's a bit easier for you since you already know what's going to happen."

Reid knew that Pierce enjoyed watching his victims' fear and pain, which is exactly why he tried to not to show any emotion or make any noises of discomfort. He wouldn't give Pierce any satisfaction as long as he could help it. Reid also knew this could be a bad idea in the end. It could make Pierce angry and upset if he kept up this charade, and there was no telling what the man might do to him then.

Pierce turned around to check the computer screens, making sure the team was still nowhere near the office. Reid looked, too. For a moment, he had almost forgotten his team was still in the same building. He didn't really realize how much little time had actually passed since Morgan and Hotch had searched the office until now. The whole team was gathered in the living room again, looking like they were discussing what to do next.

When Pierce turned around again, the frown was gone, replaced by a neutral expression. He approached the table again, and Reid was worried about what he might do. He relaxed slightly as Pierce simply removed the duct tape from his mouth, while holding the now-bloodied knife in plain view as a reminder not to call out.

Reid breathed deeply, but silently, as the tape was removed. He took the removal of the tape as an invitation to speak, but waited a minute to see if Pierce would say something first. After receiving no indication that Pierce was going to talk, Reid finally spoke.

"You don't-" Reid stopped to clear his throat, not realizing how dry it was. "You don't have to do this," he continued. "You can stop this before it's too late, before it gets worse."

"You know as well as I that it doesn't matter," Pierce responded. "The count is already up to five. I don't think another would make that much difference."

Reid looked up at Pierce, unable to hide the shock in his eyes at the number five. There had only been four victims, so unless Pierce was also adding Reid into the count, they had missed a victim. But with the way he had said it, Reid knew Pierce wasn't counting him, not yet, at least.

Pierce chuckled softly at the look on Reid's face. "I see your team has failed to find out about victim number one. Of course, if you knew about that one, you would have caught on that it was me much sooner."

"Was it someone you knew?" Reid asked. That was the first think Reid could think of that would send up red flags to the team. If Pierce was connected to the first victim and also doing all the autopsies on the rest, the team would have been suspicious.

"No," Pierce answered simply.

"When?" Reid knew the second possibility was that Pierce had also performed the autopsy on the first, but they had checked, and there were no similar deaths in the area in recent years. Pierce hadn't always lived here either, so it would have been easy to miss another victim if Pierce had killed her in another state.

"Years ago, Dr. Reid."

Reid was becoming slightly annoyed by Pierce addressing him as Dr. Reid, but that was how they had been introduced. He tried to ignore it and instead focus on keeping the man talking so he wouldn't resort back to torturing.

"Why do you do it? You never told me why."

"I think that's enough questions," Pierce stated, his mood becoming more irritated. Pierce grabbed the piece of duct tape again and replaced it over Reid's mouth, effectively silencing him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Pierce cut Reid more times on various areas up and down his chest and stomach, trying to gain a reaction from him. Reid held up his stoic exterior as best he could. He couldn't hold back slight winces, though, especially as Pierce's cuts gradually became a little deeper and a little longer.

Though Reid wasn't giving in to what the man wanted, Pierce was still getting enjoyment out of it. He was experimenting. So far, Pierce seemed to be sticking to what he normally did to his victims. He started off slow, gauging the responses he got, though in Reid's case, the lack thereof. Reid could tell he was enjoying the challenge of a tough, male victim, who was unlike his previous female victims. Reid knew they would have been scared and crying—pleading, if Pierce had left their mouths un-taped. There would have been no hiding of their fear.

Reid was grateful when Pierce finally stopped. His chest and abdomen were Pierce's focus, but he was sure it wouldn't be limited to just that. The previous victims' bodies showed that this area was the primary focus, but their entire bodies were littered with cuts by the time Pierce was done with them. That was it, though. No forms of any other torture. Pierce seemed to have an odd obsession with the knife and simply cutting his victims.

Pierce checked the cameras, a vigilant habit that didn't seem to be wavering any. Even while cutting him, he had glanced up every once in a while to be sure no one was near enough to hear any suspicious noises. Pierce removed the tape once again from Reid's mouth.

"I'm curious," Pierce stated simply. "If you didn't know about my first victim, how did you figure out it was me?"

Reid was silent for a moment before he answered, trying to ignore the stinging sensations left behind by the cuts. "Th-the profile."

"Explain it to me again, Dr. Reid. I'm still not sure if I understand how this _profile_ works."

When Reid and Prentiss had talked to him yesterday, they had explained to him a little of what they do. It was a common question while on cases, and they were used to people not believing that it worked, but Pierce had seemed mildly interested. Of course, Reid now knew he had been interested because he was worried about getting caught.

"Based on your victims, what you do to them, and how they're connected," Reid began slowly, "we know certain characteristics about you." Reid had basically explained this yesterday, though obviously had referred to the unsub and not Pierce.

"Like what?" Pierce asked curiously.

"An estimate of your age, that you're white, male," Reid didn't want to get too detailed about what they had figured out about him. If he said something Pierce didn't like, it could set him off.

"There are a lot of white males my age," Pierce commented casually.

"That you'd have medical knowledge," Reid continued. He wasn't doing this to please Pierce's inquiry, but to distract him from torturing him for awhile. "We knew you'd have a room in your house where you keep your victims. We guess it'd be in your basement, most likely."

"Well, you were wrong there," Pierce responded smugly.

"We were still right that you had a place in your home where you kept them." _But the team doesn't realize that,_ Reid added solemnly to himself.

"But they don't know that," Pierce vocalized Reid's afterthought as he glanced towards the screens once again, the smugness still present in his expression. "Still, I don't see how you narrowed it down to me."

"That had more to with noticing something that was too much of a coincidence than our profile," Reid explained. "I noticed that the latest victim had been abducted the same day the previous victim's body had been released from the morgue."

"And it couldn't just have been a coincidence?" Pierce asked.

"Not in my line of work," Reid replied truthfully. "If it had been the only one, maybe, but I checked the other victims, too. The bodies of the previous victims were released the same day the next victim went missing. That, along with our profile, narrowed it down to you."

Pierce made a noncommittal noise. Reid could tell he was much more interested than he was letting on. As Pierce began to play absentmindedly with the knife in his hand, Reid decided to use his interest in order to distract him and keep him talking longer.

"The only thing we couldn't figure out was your stressor." Reid waited for a moment, and he saw the curiosity in Pierce's eyes.

"My stressor?" Pierce asked.

"The thing that caused you to start killing," Reid explained.

"And what exactly _causes_ someone to start killing?" Pierce's voice was edged with a bit of anger.

"It could be anything really. Usually the loss of something, like the loss of a job," Reid paused, watching Pierce carefully for a reaction. "Or the loss of someone you loved."

Pierce didn't respond, but Reid could tell he had struck something within him. A sore subject. Reid was almost certain he had hit the nail on the head, and Pierce obviously didn't want to talk about it and didn't want Reid to continue talking. He reached for the piece of duct tape again, making to replace it over Reid's mouth.

"Why don't you record your victims?" Reid spat out quickly in a last-ditch effort to keep Pierce talking. Because if the tape went over his mouth again, Pierce would soon resort back to torturing him.

As Pierce froze in his movements, Reid could tell he had struck something in him again. Anger might not bode well for Reid, but he realized that if his captor became flustered enough, he might forget for a moment that there were still people inside his house. He might yell or make a noise loud enough to be heard outside the hidden room. Reid continued, hoping to make that happen.

"Our profile said you'd record the torture you performed on your victims. We thought that you didn't need to because you could relive it through the autopsies. But we were wrong. You can't control it. You need to relive it more than that allows you to. That's why you can't stop yourself from torturing me right now. It doesn't matter that I'm a man. You just need to have power over someone, anyone. But you still prey on the weak. You're too afraid to go after anyone who might be stronger than you."

Reid, who was expecting Pierce to become angry or at least a bit agitated, was taken aback as the edges of Pierce's lips faintly curved upwards. His eyes closed as though recalling a memory, and as he spoke, he completely ignored Reid's efforts to rattle him. Instead, he answered the previous question.

"Ah, the wonders of a photographic memory, Dr. Reid. I just... close my eyes, and it's..." Pierce's smile widened as he made a waving gesture with his hand in front of him, "...there."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**Warning: This chapter is a bit more descriptive, but nothing too horribly graphic, I don't think.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

For five full minutes—or at least what Reid believed was five full minutes—Pierce's eyes stayed closed, and the eerie smile remained splayed on his lips. Reid could only imagine the memory he was reliving. What he had just learned made sense in the most disturbing way possible.

Pierce having a photographic memory explained exactly why he didn't record the torturing of the victims. He didn't need to. Reid knew, from his own experience, that the man would be able to recall the tiniest details of anything he had done to the victims, and of course, their reactions.

When Pierce finally opened his eyes again, he looked at Reid. "Not very many have the... _pleasure_ of having the ability to recall things with great amount of detail."

"It's not always a..." Reid paused, hating how Pierce had used the word, "pleasure."

"Oh?" Pierce's eyebrow quirked up curiously. "And are we speaking from experience, Doctor?"

Reid hesitated before he answered, deciding it might be best to be honest. "Yes."

"Are you saying that you have a photographic memory?" Pierce asked.

"It's called an eidetic memory," Reid said, though he wasn't sure why he felt the need to elaborate.

"Well, this is very interesting, isn't it?" Pierce glanced at the screens before turning his back to them, facing Reid completely. "I guess that explains how you became such a young FBI agent and already obtained all those doctorates."

Reid nodded at Pierce's comment, unsure of how to respond. When they had met, Pierce had also asked Reid about the title of 'Doctor' that he held. Reid was used to being asked this question and explained it without even thinking about it. Now, however, he wondered if Pierce's question hadn't come more out of interest in his abilities than out of simple disbelief of his young age.

"Then," Pierce continued, "you should know what it feels like to want to forget, but not have the ability to."

Reid slowly nodded again, wary of the darkening look in Pierce's eyes as he spoke. There was no doubt that he knew what that felt like. So many times he had just wanted to forget the details of cases they'd been on, but simply couldn't.

Judging from the change in Pierce's demeanor, Reid was sure something must have happened in the man's past, something that he wanted to forget. The team hadn't found anything that could be considered a stressor, but now Reid was beginning to think the inability to forget whatever happened was eventually what had caused him to snap.

"Who was she?" Reid asked. Though he didn't know what happened, he knew it had to involve a young woman; otherwise, Pierce's victims would not have been all females near the same age.

Pierce's face was suddenly inches above his, and the knife was pressed against his cheek. The anger was evident in the man's eyes and in his expression. Now, Reid knew he really had struck a chord with him, but he hadn't expected such a drastic reaction.

"_She_," Pierce spat out angrily as he pressed the knife harder against Reid's cheek, drawing a small trickle of blood, "was no one!"

Reid couldn't stop the gasp that came out of his mouth next, because Pierce suddenly lashed out, swinging the knife across his chest. Pain quickly welled up along his chest, much like the blood. Before he could even think to glance down to see how bad the cut was, a second, similar feeling appeared below the first, immediately followed by a third. Reid gasped again as this happened. His eyes were scrunched shut in pain, but as the pain finally subsided a little, he forced them back open, wanting to know what Pierce was doing and if he was going to strike again.

As he opened his eyes, he found Pierce staring down at the cuts on his chest, as if he couldn't believe he had just lost control like that. Reid felt bad for making sound this time, because he had promised himself he wouldn't, but the suddenness of the attack meant he hadn't been prepared. Maybe someone had heard him though, or had heard Pierce's voice.

Pierce must have thinking the same thing at that exact moment, because he roughly slammed the tape over Reid's mouth again and worriedly looked towards the screens. But none of the team showed any signs of having heard the noises.

Reid took the time to lift up his head and look down at his chest. The sight in itself was almost dizzying, but Reid knew it was the pain and the sudden loss of blood that was making him feel that way. Again, the cuts weren't extremely deep, but they were long; they stretched nearly the whole width of his chest this time.

Reid's head fell back against the table. He felt as though he was going to pass out. His wounds weren't life threatening, but the three large cuts were still bleeding a decent amount. He tried to breathe deeply until the pain subsided some more, but the deep breathing only seemed to make the pain worse. He closed his eyes as the room began to spin above him. He needed to force himself to focus and stay awake.

There was no telling what Pierce would do now. He had already lashed out and deviated from his 'routine', so Reid didn't know if he'd be able to predict his next moves any longer. The torture might continue, but if Pierce couldn't calm himself down soon, he might end up killing him either out of rage or carelessness.

Reid finally decided to experiment and open his eyes, and he was relieved to find that the room had stopped spinning. Pierce was still staring at the screens. Whoever _she_ was, it was a very touchy subject for Pierce. This was the first time Reid had seen the man lose control, and the fact that he had lost control so quickly and so badly made Reid nervous.

Pierce remained standing in front of the screens for quite awhile, staring at them like he was still afraid the team might have heard something. Reid didn't know how long he stayed like that, watching his team's movements, but his cuts had long ago stopped bleeding, which he was grateful for. Eventually, Pierce turned around. Reid swallowed slowly as he saw the same look in the man's eyes that he had seen earlier, just before he had first cut him.

Pierce approached the table, knife readied in his hand. The calmness in him told Reid that he no longer cared about his earlier out-lash. Without a word, he began cutting Reid again. This time, Reid couldn't fully see what Pierce was doing. He was standing at the head of the table near where the hands were cuffed. He made cuts similar to the first ones, though this time it was in various places on his arms, tearing through the sleeves of his shirt when he cut on his upper arms.

After receiving the cuts to his chest, these ones didn't seem to hurt so much, but it made Reid nervous because he couldn't entirely see where or when Pierce was going to cut next. He was also sure Pierce was completely aware of this. Still, Reid didn't make a sound this time. He stared almost dazedly at the small light fixture above him, trying to ignore the stings in his arms when the knife cut across them.

After several cuts along each arm, Pierce seemed to become bored and moved back to the side of the table, where Reid could actually see the knife in his hand. He expected Pierce to cut his stomach again, but the knife moved lower. The knife cut through the material of Reid's pants and created a long cut down his thigh.

Reid winced and groaned slightly through the piece of tape on his mouth. He didn't fail to notice Pierce's lips upturning slightly at his reaction. Another cut to his thigh, and Reid winced again, turning his head slightly to the side. His small gasp was again muffled by the duct tape.

The edge of Pierce's lips crooked up ever-so-slightly more, but Reid was completely okay with this. Because what Pierce didn't realize was that Reid was doing this on purpose. It wasn't too hard to fake being in pain, because he was, but he felt bad about giving in to what Pierce was after. But a moment ago, he had caught a glimpse of the screens and saw that Morgan was walking down the hallway in the direction of the office. His hope was that by giving in, Pierce would be distracted long enough to forget about the screens behind him, and Morgan would hear something out of place.

So as the knife cut a third time on his thigh, Reid turned his head in the other direction, letting out another small whimper of fake (real) pain and desperately hoped that Morgan's destination was the office next to them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Pierce was too absorbed in his work and the reaction he was gaining to realize Reid's hopeful intentions. Either Reid had put on a good enough show that he suddenly couldn't take the pain any longer, or Pierce simply thought he had found a more sensitive on spot Reid's body. Maybe it was a bit of both, but Pierce definitely wanted to keep the reactions going. He continued the cutting, switching to the opposite thigh. All the while, Reid was letting out small noises of discomfort every time the blade sliced through his skin.

While Pierce was distracted, Reid glanced at the screens again as discretely as he could. He didn't want Pierce's attention drawn to them, which was exactly what would happen if he saw Reid looking at them.

Reid's resolve dropped almost immediately. As his eyes passed idly over the screens, he realized Morgan had walked right past the office door, completely oblivious to what was happening just beyond it. Reid didn't really care where Morgan was going or what he was doing anymore. He closed his eyes in defeat. Pierce took this action as a sign of defeat towards him.

"No one can hold out forever, Doctor. Everyone has their breaking point."

Reid didn't open his eyes. He was afraid that if he did, tears would roll down the sides of his face. _Then_ he really would be admitting defeat against Pierce. He had just given the man exactly what he wanted—for absolutely nothing. But Reid knew if he hadn't at least tried, he would have regretted doing nothing when there was even a slight possibility of rescue involved.

When Reid finally felt composed enough to open his eyes again, Pierce was turned away from him, watching the screens. Reid wondered if he realized Morgan had walked through the hallway just moments ago. By the looks of it, he hadn't. He didn't look nervous, like he had when he thought someone might have heard them earlier. He was just simply taking note of what the team was up to.

Reid decided to look and take note, too. Now, he was curious to where Morgan had gone to. He saw his burly figure in a room which he recognized as being in the back of the house, away from the rest of the team. He was pacing back and forth slightly. His hand ran over his bald head, and he seemed to have taken a deep breath before he closed his eyes.

Reid recognized these signs immediately; Morgan was taking the time to stop and collect himself. Reid glanced at the screen that showed Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss. They seemed more calm than Morgan, but Reid knew it wasn't because the man was any weaker. It was simply because Morgan displayed his anger more outwardly than the rest. He knew the other three felt the same way as Morgan did, but they all dealt with those feelings in different ways. And Morgan was probably taking a moment alone to cool off for their sake more than his own. An angry Morgan wasn't usually pleasant to deal with.

Reid finally had to look away from the screens. He hated seeing (or not seeing, in some cases) those feelings present on his teammates' faces. Especially when he was right here, only separated from them by a single, devious wall.

He suddenly realized how tired he was as his vision momentarily blurred. He blinked a few times, until the cloudiness receded. He focused on the light above him, though staring at it was probably not a good idea. He was really beginning to feel the side effects of the blood loss...

Reid slowly opened his eyes, completely unaware of when he had closed them again. They fluttered for a moment as he re-adjusted to the light shinning above him. Slight confusion crept into the edge of his thoughts. He didn't know how long he had been asleep. He didn't feel rested at all, though, so maybe 'passed out' was a better description for his previous state. In fact, he felt worse and even more tired than before. His whole body ached; it was stiff from being in the same position for so long. All the cuts on his body throbbed and stung dully now, with the three on his chest still being slightly more prominent than the rest.

He felt a set of eyes watching him. His eyes turned the side where Pierce was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest. An eerie feeling swept through Reid at the thought of Pierce staring at him possibly the entire time he had been unconscious.

"I was hoping you would wake up again," Pierce said without moving from his position against the wall. "The human body is an interesting thing, don't you think? It can endure quite a bit before it shuts down completely."

Reid hadn't noticed until now that there was no tape covering his mouth. Pierce must have removed it while he was out. Still, Reid didn't speak. He knew the human body could endure a lot, but he felt weak. He really had no idea how long he had been lying in this room, especially since he had no way of knowing how long he had been passed out. However long it had been, Pierce seemed to still be patient enough to wait.

Reid worriedly wondered if the team was still here. Since Pierce was, there was a good chance they hadn't left yet. Reid was relieved to see that they were still in the house, and he looked back to Pierce as he noticed the man had also looked towards the screens.

Reid swallowed, pushing past the extreme thirst he was beginning to feel. "Why do you have video recorders inside your house?" he asked slowly.

"Why not?" was Pierce's response. "They come in very handy."

"When you're wanted for murder and holding a federal agent hostage," Reid supplied.

"I have guests in my home, Dr. Reid," Pierce explained further, almost in an air of distaste. "Invited ones. And I don't need them accidently discovering me in this room."

Reid didn't like hearing that. It meant Pierce couldn't control his urges to torture his victims long enough for the guests to leave. Reid guessed it was the same way he couldn't control the urges to torture him right now, too. And just as Reid thought this, he saw that look form in Pierce's eyes again.

"Why did you cuff me with my handcuffs?" Reid asked. He didn't really care why. He just wanted to distract Pierce and postpone more torture as long as he could. It was the first question that had popped into his head.

Pierce seemed somewhat taken aback by the random question, but smiled slightly nonetheless. "You're just full of questions, aren't you? I don't know. I guess I thought it'd be a fun change."

_Or a way to feel more power and control,_ Reid thought to himself. Anyone would say using something against someone that belonged to them was, in a way, a putdown. It should—and did—make Reid feel even worse about the situation, since he was being restrained with his own handcuffs. It would be just like someone using his own gun against him, which, Reid was oddly thankful for, was still sitting unused on the desk.

Pierce walked over to the desk and reached for the roll of duct tape, pulling off a new piece. He seemed to realize Reid's efforts to distract him with questions. Reid hardly had a chance to protest as the new piece of tape was placed over his mouth, and the familiar feeling of being helplessly mute washed over him once again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Having absolutely no sense of time was really starting to get to Reid. Part of him knew that he should be less worried about what time it was and more worried about escaping from his current predicament, but the other part of him knew that escaping from his bonds was very unlikely to happen and that time actually played a vital role in everything that was going on.

The more time that went by, the more dire the situation became. The team was eventually going to leave, probably soon, Reid realized grimly. And the odds of them finding the hidden room before they did leave just didn't seem to be leaning in his favor. More time passing by also meant more torture from Pierce, which in turn caused more pain and more blood loss. Reid knew in the end that Pierce would kill him before he made his escape. That is, if he didn't manage to accomplish it beforehand, and Reid was beginning to wonder if that was what was going to happen.

He was also worried about Pierce. Most of the time, he was cutting him, and the rest of the time, he was diligently watching the team on the screens. When he watched the screens, he turned his back towards Reid, and Reid was sure it was to help him fight off the urge to torture him. The look in Pierce's eyes now seemed to be there constantly, and Reid knew he was having a hard time controlling himself. Pierce would also close his eyes for a few minutes at a time, no doubt reliving some previous torture to dissuade his urges as well.

Being stuck in this small room was also clearly agitating Pierce. His wait-the-team-out plan apparently wasn't working out the way he had hoped. Reid had seen this coming almost the moment Pierce had said that was what he was going to do. He was itching to get out of here, but he wasn't going to do that until the team left.

The silence in the room was also getting to Reid. He would try to remedy that if he could, but Pierce hadn't been willing to grant him permission to speak. Pierce had obviously realized that duct tape was a very effective way to shut Reid up. Reid briefly thought of the notion of his team slapping a piece of tape over his mouth any time they got annoyed with his irrelevant or over-detailed speeches. That would probably be a lot, he realized. If the tape wasn't over his mouth right now, Reid would have smirked. He had to admit that the thought of it was a little funny.

Reid pulled himself back to reality. His thoughts were wondering too far if he was thinking of something funny while lying on his possible deathbed. Though there wasn't anything else he could do, he knew letting his mind wander wasn't a good idea. Whenever he did, he felt himself get sleepy, and he needed to keep himself alert and awake. He afraid he wouldn't be able to wake up again if he went to sleep or passed out, and if he did wake up, he was afraid he would wake to the team being gone.

"War wound?"

Reid looked up at Pierce when he finally broke the deafening silence. He had been nearly just as quiet as Reid was with the tape over his mouth, which bothered Reid more than anything else. He had gone from goading and taunting to near silence, another sign of his agitated and deteriorating state.

Reid was confused by the man's question but quickly realized what Pierce meant when he saw where he was looking. One of Pierce's recent cuts had been near his left knee, and the tear in the material of his pant leg had apparently revealed the angry scars beneath.

He only realized Pierce was actually expecting an answer from him when the tape was pulled off his mouth. He didn't answer right away, though. He took a moment to take a few deep breaths, taking in an amount of air that hadn't seemed possible through his nose. It felt like ages since his mouth had been tape-free.

"I was shot," Reid finally answered, his voice a little hoarse.

"And how does one get shot in the knee?" Pierce asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

"I was protecting someone," Reid answered vaguely. He didn't really want to talk about the incident, especially to Pierce, but he was just grateful that the silence had finally ended, and the tape had finally been removed from his mouth.

"You don't look much like the protective type," Pierce commented.

"Looks can be deceiving," Reid replied. He was used to people questioning his abilities, not so much anymore, but it had happened quite often when he first joined the BAU.

"So I've seen," Pierce said as he glanced down to the numerous cuts on Reid's body, and Reid knew the man was referring to him holding up through the torture. "I'd expect the healing process was no walk in the park," Pierce continued. "How long did it take to recover from that little act of bravery?"

Of course, Pierce would know getting shot in the required a lot of physical therapy. "Too long," Reid answered simply, truthfully.

Reid realized too late that it might have been a mistake to provide Pierce with such vague answers. Pierce was quickly annoyed with him and stuck the tape back over his mouth. Reid groaned inwardly, but he found he didn't have the energy to talk a whole lot anyway. He so desperately wanted to rest, but he knew that would be an even worse mistake in case an opportunity of escape or rescue arose.

Reid had gained Pierce's habit of checking the screens, both for keeping an eye on the team's movements and simply for something to do. He also kept his mind occupied by going through the possible outcomes of this. He didn't like the outcome his mind always seemed to come back to, so he eventually gave up on that idea.

He was staring at the ceiling again, trying to keep himself awake, but something had caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Pierce was smiling. It was different, though. Different from any smile Reid had seen one the man before. It was a smile of knowing. Of winning, Reid realized. He noticed that Pierce had his eyes glued to the screens. Reid quickly looked, too, though he was almost certain of what he was going to see displayed on them.

Reid was right a majority of the time about anything he said or anything he thought; it was merely a result of his high intellect. But this was one of those rare times he wished he could just be wrong. That he wished he couldn't predict what was going to happen next.

But unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times. Reid was right. As he looked at the screens he saw exactly what he had been expecting, exactly what he had been _dreading_ from the moment he had been forcibly taken into this room: the team was leaving the house. They were leaving him completely alone with the man who was surely going to kill him. And all Reid could do was watch the fading images of his team as the door closed behind them, and they walked away.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**Good news: Early update today! Bad news: I will be going home for the weekend and won't have internet, so no update until either Sunday or Monday. Sorry. I know I'm spoiling all of you with my almost daily updates ;)**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid stared at the despairingly empty screens. Any ounce of hope he had of rescue had been washed away the moment the door closed behind his team. The likelihood of them returning to the house was extremely minimal. There would probably be an unmarked car left behind on the street to watch for any sign of Pierce 'returning', but Reid knew better than to get his hopes up by counting on them to notice anything suspicious.

The only question that remained was how long Pierce was going to wait before he made his escape. That relied more on Pierce's patience, which was limited at best, than it did on his caution.

"What's the matter, Dr. Reid?" Pierce asked with a renewed sense of confidence in his voice. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he teased ruthlessly.

Reid wasn't entirely surprised that his internal emotions had finally seeped into his outward expression. He had just watched his last hope of survival literally walk out the door, a near-guarantee seal of his fate. He tried to regain a sense of control over the emotions that were flooding through him, but he had no idea how well he was succeeding on the outside. He looked at Pierce, trying to gauge his intentions by the look he had on his face.

Peirce could apparently see the question in his eyes. "I think we'll wait awhile to be safe."

Reid couldn't decide whether that was good or bad. Pierce would definitely torture him some more, but it meant death would at least wait a little longer. Funny. Not very long ago, he was attempting everything he could to evade torture. Now, he would almost welcome the torture, because it delayed death.

Pierce reached to his mouth and slowly removed the tape. "Shouldn't have to worry about you calling out now, but don't think I won't put it back on if you try to yell loud enough for the neighbors to hear," Pierce paused. An almost thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Though, you don't look much like you'd be able to."

Reid realized immediately that Pierce was right. He wouldn't have the energy to call out that loudly, even if he tried. He wasn't even sure he'd have the energy to attempt an escape, should a miracle happen and such an opportunity arise.

Pierce stood next to the table, taking in the injuries all over Reid's body for a moment before he smiled. He was deciding where to cut next, and he quickly found untouched areas and began to cut on his body once again.

It was harder now. The cuts weren't any worse, but it was harder for Reid to stay silent. He hadn't realized how much easier the tape over his mouth had made it to hold in the groans and gasps of pain he wanted to let out. Now, he had to hold his lips tight together in order to prevent the involuntary reactions.

Reid briefly thought of trying to persuade Pierce to leave now while he certainly had the chance, but again, the notion of dying sooner came to mind and stopped him from doing so. He could ask questions again, since the tape had been left off his mouth this time, but he didn't know how well that would play out. Pierce could simply ignored him and silence him with the tape again, or he could react badly if the wrong thing was said, like he had before. Pierce was nearing the end anyway, so if he got angry now, the chance of him just killing Reid increased immensely.

"Why do you do it?"

Reid could curse himself for asking the question. His previous reasoning held true, but there was still the imbedded fear of being hurt floating through him. It pushed past the thought of death, and he couldn't really stop the question from leaving his lips.

Pierce paused in his ministrations. "Why are you so curious about why I do it?"

"You're the one that brought it up earlier. You made me curious," Reid lied partially. The profiler in him was curious, but that wasn't the reason for asking the question.

Pierce seemed to consider him for a moment, which relieved Reid, because when he had asked before, Pierce had gotten annoyed with him. That annoyance could have quickly turned to anger this time.

"Because I _enjoy_ it," Pierce finally answered.

"How do you discover you enjoy something like this?" Again, it was the undeniable want for more talking, less torturing, that made Reid ask the question.

"By accident," Pierce replied coldly.

From the change in Pierce's voice, Reid knew this time that he had to stop. Any further questions could set Pierce off too easily to risk it. He watched carefully as Pierce was obviously trying to control his emotions. When he seemed to have calmed down, he raised the knife again.

Reid eyed the knife as it pressed against one of the long cuts on his chest. Pierce slowly dragged it all the way across, reopening the wound and causing it to begin to bleed again. Reid closed his eyes as the previously dulled pain of the cut fully reappeared, but he still kept quiet. Pierce repeated the process on the cut beneath it. Reid still wasn't looking, but just as he expected, he felt the renewed pain in the third long cut as well. When he finally opened his eyes again, Pierce was watching him.

"Still not giving up?" Pierce asked with slight amusement.

Reid didn't answer, but he held Pierce's gaze as he tried to push past the slight wave of dizziness that he felt.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Dr. Reid. I think you know there's no chance of rescue now. You might as well let go and just admit to yourself that I've won."

"You haven't won yet," Reid replied, unable to entirely hide the anger from his voice.

"Oh?" Pierce raised his eyebrows. "Now, you may be a bit delusional from blood loss, but the way I see it, I've already won. Your team is gone, and I'm a free man."

"My team may be gone now, but they will catch you," Reid countered confidently.

"You seem quite sure of that." Pierce gestured widely to the space around them. "They failed to find this room. What makes you believe they can find me once I leave?"

"They're the best there is," Reid answered truthfully. "And they won't stop until they do find you."

"_They_ won't stop," Pierce repeated, looking directly at Reid. "What about you?"

"You're going to kill me."

The words had come out of Reid's mouth before he really even had time to think about what he was saying.

"Is that a question?" Pierce asked.

Reid hesitated. Not because he didn't know, but because he wasn't sure he wanted to admit out loud what he knew to be the impending truth. Saying it out loud made it so much more real than simply thinking it. And no matter what he said, he knew Pierce wouldn't change his mind either way because of it.

Reid looked at Pierce, who was clearly waiting for a reply. There was no waver in Reid's voice when he finally answered. "No."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

As Reid woke, he had to think to remember where he was. The dulled pain all across his body quickly helped him decipher his location and the dismal circumstances surrounding him, though. He must have passed out again, he realized, and this time it felt harder than the last to open his eyes. It would have taken much less effort to just give up his struggle to regain consciousness than to force his eyes open and deal with whatever plans Pierce had left for him.

But he couldn't do that. He couldn't let himself take the easy way out, so he forced his heavy eyelids open. The ceiling above him was one bright distortion. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the blurs from his vision. It took a lot of concentration to force away the grogginess that he felt. It was a good two minutes before he finally looked around the small room for Pierce's whereabouts.

At first, Reid thought Pierce must be standing by the wall near the head of the table, because he couldn't see him. But a movement on one of the computer screens caught his attention; Pierce wasn't even in the room with him. Reid watched for a minute as Pierce was putting a few items in a small bag. He had a small flashlight in his hand, which meant two things: it was dark outside, and Pierce was smart enough not to turn on a light inside the house. Pierce's actions also meant he was planning on leaving soon.

Reid tugged on the cuffs above him as forcefully as he could without making too much sound. Pierce would likely come back to the room the moment he heard any signs of him being awake. None of his restraints would budge, though. The straps on his ankles wouldn't loosen, and the cuffs stayed linked to the table above him. But Reid didn't stop tugging on his bonds, because this was his first, last, and only chance to attempt an escape. Once Pierce came back to the hidden room, he was as good as dead.

He hadn't bothered to struggle much with his restraints before because Pierce would have quickly put an end to it. Obviously, it wouldn't have been much use anyway; he was quickly finding that there was no way he could get out of the restraints by himself. He hadn't really been expecting to be able to.

He could tell his wrists were already bruising from pulling on the cuffs, but he still continued. He only stopped when he realized Pierce had finished packing his bag and was heading back towards the room. On a whim, Reid decided to pretend to still be unconscious, closing his eyes and stilling his movements.

A moment later, he heard the hidden door being opened and Pierce stepping inside. The door closed again, and he heard a soft thud, which he presumed to be the bag being set on the floor. Soft footsteps approached the table, and then moved in the direction of the desk. Reid couldn't quite tell what Pierce was doing at the desk, but it wasn't long before his footsteps were nearing the table again.

A sudden pain on his side caused Reid to involuntarily wince.

"Wakey, wakey, Dr. Reid."

He knew there would be no use in faking now. Pierce would cut him again until he woke; the man just leaving was simply too much to ask for. When Reid opened his eyes, Pierce was standing above him.

"I do believe it's just about time for us to part. Still certain I'm going to kill you?"

Reid didn't answer. Yes, he was still certain, and Pierce obviously wanted him awake when he did it.

"I'm not going to kill you."

It took Reid a moment to realize he hadn't imagined Pierce saying he wasn't going to kill him. There was no doubt that Pierce wouldn't let him live.

"Not yet, anyways," Pierce continued.

Reid didn't know what Pierce meant by that. Was he going to stay here even longer? He would have thought using the dark of night to help cover him as he escaped would have appealed to Pierce. But then, Reid realized, he had no idea what time it actually was, so it could still be dark for several hours yet.

Pierce didn't elaborate, nor did he do anything. He just stood there watching Reid for awhile, and Reid let his mind begin to wander to distract himself from the irksome feeling he got from Pierce's unwavering gaze.

He wondered what the rest of the team was doing right now. Even though it was night, he knew they wouldn't be sleeping. They would still be searching for him, for some sort of lead to help find him. They wouldn't stop for the night because they knew exactly what Pierce could do—what Pierce _had_ done—to him.

There was no way they would find him in time now. No lead they could possibly find would lead them back to the house. They might decide to re-search it, but not in the middle of the night. By morning, it would be too late.

By morning, he'll only be a lifeless body.

Reid moved his thoughts back to the present and eyed Pierce nervously as the man finally moved. He stepped towards the table. Reid was too drained to even try to move his head away as Pierce put the piece of duct tape back over his mouth, though the act made him extremely nervous. Pierce had even said earlier that there wasn't really a need for the tape anymore, so Reid began to worriedly question the reasoning for using it.

Pierce was holding the knife firmly over Reid's stomach. Expecting him to begin to cut once again, Reid was shocked as an intense pain filled his abdomen. This was not a cut; it was a stab. There was no way Reid could stop the gasp that wasn't quite able to leave his lips as it was muffled by the tape. _That_ was the reasoning behind using the tape. Pierce hadn't wanted to chance him screaming out in pain on impulse.

Because, at the moment, that was exactly what Reid wanted to do. All the cuts _combined_ didn't seem to hurt this much. His eyes were closed in pain, and they scrunched shut even tighter as he felt the blade being pulled out. His body automatically wanted to curl up on itself in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain, but the restraints on his wrists and ankles made that utterly impossible.

Where the pain from his cuts had dulled relatively quickly, this wound just didn't seem like it was going to. He forced his eyes to open; he needed to know if Pierce was going to stab him again or let him bleed for awhile before finishing him off. The light and Pierce's face above him were blurred again, but he forced himself to focus and tried to slow his rapid breathing. Pierce merely watched his efforts with a content expression on his face.

"Don't worry," Pierce encouraged sardonically. "Eventually you'll reach the point where you won't feel anything."

Initially, Reid thought Pierce meant he won't feel anything once he kills him, but he began to think the statement had a double meaning as Pierce seemingly began to get ready to leave. He took the knife and wiped the blood off on the material of Reid's pants before tucking the object away. He then reached to the floor where his bag was setting and slung it over his shoulder.

Reid knew at that moment, before Pierce said it, that he was leaving him to bleed to death alone in this room. Even in Reid's wavering state, he realized that this form of action didn't make sense. He would have thought Pierce would want to make sure he was dead before he left. Though, they both knew there was basically no chance of escape or rescue even possible at this point. Pierce could leave with the knowledge and certainty that Reid was going to die soon, long before anyone would come back to the house.

"I'd say you've got a little over an hour before you bleed out," Pierce confirmed Reid's musings. "If you're lucky, maybe you'll pass out before then."

With that, Pierce turned around and left through the hidden door, closing it securely behind him. But not before saying, "Goodbye, Dr. Reid," in a tone that was much too light, much too happy, for the true direness of the situation he was leaving in the room behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid could only wonder why Pierce had decided to leave him here like this instead of just killing him right away. He watched the screens as Pierce walked through the hallway and left through the back door. For the first time, Reid was completely alone. Alone, strapped to a table, and slowly bleeding to death.

As he looked to the fresh stab wound on his stomach, Reid had no doubt that the amount of time Pierce had given him before he bled to death was pretty accurate. Pierce would know exactly where to stab to allow him to last for a little while. He had at least an hour, maybe less if he was 'lucky' and passed out sooner. His only chance now was to figure out a way to save himself in the little time he had left.

He forced himself to breathe and push away the fear welling up inside of him. He couldn't afford to let himself panic. Still, he began to pull frantically on the cuffs above his head, tugging much harder this time and not caring about the noise he made. In this case, noise would actually be a good thing, but he knew nothing would be loud enough for anyone outside the house to hear.

He could feel the cuffs beginning to cut into his wrists, but he didn't care. He struggled with his ankle restraints as well, but even those wouldn't give. Reid stopped for a moment and forced himself to think.

The handcuffs won't budge. The ankle straps won't budge. His cell phone was still lying on the desk. He needed to get off the table and get to the phone, and he needed to do it soon. He may have an hour, but even if he could call for help, it would also take a little time before that help actually arrived. And the help would need to _find_ him first if he didn't get the chance to let them know about the hidden room.

Reid decided to just take things one step at a time.

Task number one: free his wrists. If he accomplished that, then the rest would be much easier. Figuring out exactly _how_ he was going to get out of the handcuffs was almost a task in itself. Reid had no idea how to begin, so he tried turning his body to see how the cuffs were linked to the table. He slowly twisted his body to the side as much as the ankle restraints would allow him to. Of course, this action aggravated the stab wound immensely.

But he forced himself to push past the pain and focus on the task at hand. He pushed himself up on his elbows a little, taking a moment to breathe as his head spun slightly. He looked up at his cuffed wrists, seeing that they were linked through some sort of handlebar on the edge of the table. Reid searched for a weak point in the bar but couldn't seem to find one. Still, he pulled once again.

It was a few moments before he realized the mistake he was making. If his mind had been up to par, he would have noticed as soon as he had seen the bar. His mistake was pulling it; he should be _pushing_ it.

If the bar was going to give, it needed to be pushed away from the rest of the table, not be pulled towards it. With the way the handlebar was attached to the table, it looked like it could break off under enough pressure. Reid knew there was still a chance that it wouldn't budge, but he had high hopes because the table looked relatively old and un-sturdy, something he hadn't been able to take note of before.

He grabbed the bar with both hands and immediately began to push on it. He forced himself upwards a little more and put as much weight on it as he could, focusing on one end of the bar. It shifted a little and he continued pushing, ignoring how winded the efforts made him feel. Each time he pushed harder, he could feel the bar shift a little. Suddenly, the bar gave, and Reid grunted slightly in surprise as he fell forward with the bar.

Task number one: complete.

It didn't matter that his hands were still cuffed together; it only mattered that they were no longer cuffed to the table. Reid almost wanted to cry in triumph at the seemingly small feat, but he knew this wasn't over yet.

Task number two: free his ankles. He carefully twisted his body back around, and brought his hands down from above his head. His arms were stiff and sore, almost to the point of being painful. He tried sitting up to reach to the restraints on his ankles, but the wave of dizziness that assaulted immediately him sent him back down. He only took a moment to push past it, though, since he didn't want to waste any time. He couldn't. He hadn't even bothered to remove the tape from his mouth for that reason.

The second attempt to sit up was much better, only in the fact that he hadn't collapsed back down this time. The dizziness was still there. He reached his hands towards the straps on his ankles. Loosening the straps was harder than he thought, mostly because he was having trouble getting his hands to work properly. But eventually, he did it.

Task number two: complete.

Task number three: get to his phone. He didn't even necessarily have to call for help. Garcia would certainly have a trace on his cell phone and would know the instant that it was turned on. Then, it would be up to his team getting here on time. And finding the room.

Getting to the phone seemed simple enough, but Reid knew it wasn't going to be that easy. He slowly brought his legs over the edge of the table. He knew his body was weak and wasn't all that surprised when his legs buckled underneath him as he tried to stand. As he fell to the floor, his only thought was a mantra of _don't pass out_. But as he collided with the hardwood floor, unable to catch himself, waves of pain were sent throughout his body. He couldn't seem to catch his breath, and he knew that no matter how hard he tried to stay awake, he was going to pass out...

When Reid woke again, he was still in pain. He groaned as he shifted slightly. He stayed still and breathed slowly for a minute, trying to clear his head, and in doing so, he realized that he had no idea how long he'd been out. It could have been seconds, or the majority of his last hour could have just been wasted lying in a heap on the floor.

He forced himself to focus. He needed to ignore the pain and get to the desk. Reid slowly forced himself up and began to crawl towards the desk. It wasn't very far, but for him, it was a major accomplishment, and moving to the desk was quickly diminishing what little energy he had left. With an amount of effort that almost seemed ridiculous for the small task, he reached onto the desk and grabbed the phone, hardly taking notice that his gun was no longer next to it.

Task number three: complete.

He barely managed to turn the phone on before his vision blurred violently; he wasn't going to be able to make a call. The phone slid from his hands, and his body seemed to mimic its movements as he collapsed the short distance to the floor...

He was only vaguely aware of slowly being turned onto his back and of the new noises around him. The duct tape was no longer on his mouth, and he couldn't stop a small intake of breath as it had been removed. He started to become a little more aware as rough hands gently released his battered wrists from the handcuffs and placed them carefully at his side. Slowly, he realized most of the noises around him were the movements of people and their voices, but he couldn't exactly make out what they were saying.

Reid tried hard to open his eyes, but they felt too heavy. His entire body felt heavy. There was a sudden pressure on his stomach, which quickly turned to pain. Someone was trying to stop the bleeding of the stab wound. His focus was taken away from the pain as the same rough hand that had removed the cuffs grabbed one of his hands. He knew someone was talking to him, but it took a large amount of effort to understand what they were saying.

"Reid, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

It took a moment for the voice to register to him as Hotch's; his team had found him. A sudden and odd realization came to him that he should be embarrassed. He was practically shirtless in front of his boss and most likely the rest of the team. He knew it was a ridiculous thought, and the team wouldn't be concerned about that. They wouldn't be concerned that his chest was bare, but that his chest was covered in numerous cuts. Reid knew he should be more concerned with that as well and that it was a bit of delirium that caused the initial thought in the first place.

Focusing back on what Hotch had said, with all the effort he could muster, he slowly curled his fingers around Hotch's hand. It wasn't much of a squeeze, but he was sure it was enough for Hotch to understand that he heard him and that he was awake.

"Good, Reid, just stay with us. The ambulance is almost here."

Reid slowly curled his fingers around Hotch's hand a second time to acknowledge that he heard again. A moment later, Hotch's hand was gone, and Reid felt oddly sad at the loss of contact, but he soon realized why Hotch had let go. New hands replaced the ones that were on him and began poking and prodding him. He groaned a couple of times when they reached the worst injuries.

The little energy that Reid had was fading again. He was only partially aware of being placed on a gurney and being lifted. As he was lifted into what he presumed to be the ambulance, a hand clasped his again. This time, Morgan's voice was the one that came with the hand. As Reid began to drift off again, he wasn't entirely sure what Morgan was saying, but it sounded something like "hang in there, kid."

Reid had hung in there all this time; he wasn't about to just give up now.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

For quite some time, it seemed like everything was a haze. A haze of an ambulance ride. A haze of lights rolling above him. A haze of faces of doctors and nurses. Then there was the haze of his team members—that one, he wasn't entirely sure if it was real or not, but it was a comforting thought anyways.

The haze finally broke.

He should be sick of lying down. He had been lying on that table nearly the entire time he had been in the hidden room. Then, he had obviously been lying down for however long he had been here, in a hospital room, he was fairly sure. But here he had the comfort of a soft bed and warm blankets; no Pierce, no knife.

He would have liked to just stay that way, hovering on the line between sleep and consciousness, but he knew he should wake. His first attempt to open his eyes resulted in them fluttering briefly before falling closed again. He just lay there for a while longer, deciding to give it another try in a moment. He breathed deeply, nearly relishing in the fact that he no longer needed to worry whether or not he was going to find a piece of tape covering his mouth. A simple, but gratifying relief.

Someone shifted next to his bed.

"Reid?"

Deciding now would be a good time to try again, Reid refocused his efforts on opening his eyes. He was able to keep them open this time after adjusting to the light in the room. The white ceiling above him was much more appealing than the dark cover of that hidden room. Another simple relief.

"Reid?"

Reid turned his head slightly and looked as the voice came again. Morgan was sitting in a chair near the bed, now getting up to take a step closer.

"Hey," Morgan greeted. "You with us now?"

Reid looked at Morgan for a moment, contemplating the meaning of his question. "Was I awake before?" he asked a little groggily.

"If you could call it that," Morgan answered, smiling softly. "You woke up for a couple minutes a few times, but you weren't quite... with us. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Reid answered truthfully. "But okay, I guess." Reid glanced around his room, briefly taking in the monitors around him. "Where is everybody now?"

"At the police station, still trying to find some sort of lead," Morgan paused. "Listen. You don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want to, but we need to know. Did Pierce mention anything about where he was going or what he was planning on doing?"

"No," Reid answered promptly, shaking his head.

"Alright," Morgan responded before resuming his seat. "Well, we've basically got nothing, and he could be long gone by now."

That much Reid had expected, but Morgan's statement brought up another question. "How long have I been here?"

"You've been out for nearly two days," Morgan stated before continuing slowly, predicting what Reid's next question would be. "You were in that room for about twelve hours before we found you."

Reid wasn't quite sure if his response should be 'that's it?' or if it should be 'that long?' It felt both like it had been an eternity and like it had still gone by quickly at the same time. It was probably the lack of knowing the time that had made him feel that way.

Reid closed his eyes. He didn't miss seeing the guilt in Morgan's eyes and also wasn't all that surprised by it. He knew he should address the issue and say something to him, but he was beginning to feel how tired he really was...

He woke to soft chatter in the room around him. As he opened his eyes, he found that Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss had joined Morgan in the time that he had been asleep. It only took a moment for them to realize he was awake.

"Hey," he greeted first. "Sorry for falling asleep on you," he directed towards Morgan.

"It's fine, Reid," Morgan assured him. "You need your rest."

"How are you feeling?" Prentiss asked.

"Better," Reid replied as he sat up in his bed, wincing slightly as he felt the discomfort of his stab wound.

"You okay?" Morgan asked, and Reid nodded.

The room was quiet after that, filled with an unnecessary tension. It felt like everyone wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say or how to say it. Reid decided he couldn't take the silence any longer and was the first to break it.

"I know it's probably not going to help any by saying this," he began, "but I still have to say it. Don't blame yourselves for not finding the room. And thank you. For finding the room when you did."

"Reid, you do realize that we had nothing to do with the reason you're still alive," Morgan said after a moment. "That was all you."

"You still found the room in time," Reid replied, refusing to take all the credit. He paused for a moment, thinking. "How _did_ you find the door?"

"The house was dark this time," Morgan answered. "There was light coming from under the wall."

Prentiss shook her head. "We were definitely suprised when Garcia traced your phone back to the house."

"We didn't think Pierce was stupid enough to go back to his house," Rossi commented. "Turns out he was smart enough to never have left it."

"Reid," Hotch asked slowly, "do you know why he would have taken you?"

Reid knew the question was an attempt to get him to start talking about what happened. He didn't want to talk, but he knew he'd have to eventually.

"He thought it would get the rest of you to leave sooner," Reid finally answered. He stayed quiet for a moment, not quite ready tell them what all happened. "Did you find any evidence of a fifth victim?" he asked instead. He knew they immediately saw his attempt to detour the conversation, but he ignored it. And by their questioning looks, they hadn't found the fifth victim. "Pierce said there were five," Reid continued, "And if we had known about the first, we would have known that it was him."

Hotch shook his head. "Reid, we've searched through every part of Pierce's past, and there's no indication of a previous victim."

Reid didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. He doubted Pierce would lie about something like that, and if Pierce thought the victim would have led them to him, they should have found the connection if they dug deep enough. It didn't make sense, but then there were things about Pierce that just weren't typical in an unsub, mainly the photographic memory.

"Still no indication of stressor either," Rossi added.

"There won't be one," Reid informed them. "Not a recent one anyway."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"He, uh... he has a photographic memory," Reid began to explain. For some reason, he was unable to meet any of his teammates' eyes and instead stared down at his bed. "That's why he never recorded his victims. And I think something happened in his past involving a girl. Whatever it was, he couldn't forget it because of his memory. Not being able to forget it might be what caused him to snap now."

Reid suddenly felt tired again, but he tried not to let it show.

"An unsub with a photographic memory," Rossi shook his head. "I think that's a first."

"We'll look into it more," Hotch said. "You should get some more rest, Reid."

So much for hiding it, Reid thought as he watched Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss leave. He and Morgan were left alone in the quiet.

"You don't need to stay here," Reid finally said. "Especially when I'm hardly even awake."

"We're not leaving you alone, kid," Morgan replied. "From what we could tell, Pierce left you to die in that room. If he finds out you're still alive, he might want to come back and finish the job."

"He _will_," Reid corrected. "If he hears that I'm alive, he'll come back. He was certain he was leaving me to my death. And he'll be watching for news of my body being found."

"We haven't released the information about you being found, but there's always a chance he could find out somehow, so we're playing it safe. At least one of us will always be here with you."

Part of Reid was annoyed. The other part was glad.

"We should let him find out," Reid suggested after a moment, knowing there was probably only one way they were going to catch Pierce.

"You mean use you as bait?" Morgan asked.

"Yes."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

"Reid, I think you've done enough already. We'll find him some other way."

"No. You won't."

Reid shook his head and looked firmly at Morgan. He knew Morgan was only trying to keep him out of harm's way—well, keep him from _more_ possible harm, at least. The whole team probably knew it was practically going to be impossible to catch Pierce now. Still, they would be reluctant to use Reid as bait, even if it was the only way.

"If he kills again, we can track him," Morgan countered.

"If he kills again, he has no need to let the body be found," Reid quickly surpassed Morgan's futile efforts to talk him out of this. "And we can't let him kill again," he added softly.

Morgan sighed. "Alright. I'll talk to Hotch, see what he thinks, but right now you need to rest, Reid. I can tell your fighting it."

And Reid was. He was fighting to keep his eyelids open. Knowing Morgan wouldn't lie and would talk to Hotch about it, Reid finally gave in to his body's battle for sleep...

This time, it was Hotch who was sitting in the chair next to his bed when he woke again. He was at a loss for time again, but it didn't really bother him so much. Maybe because time didn't matter right now as much as it had before. Before, time was everything. Now, he could relax and rest as time went by, knowing he was being watched over. Knowing he was safe.

Hotch hadn't yet noticed that Reid was awake, no doubt mulling over what Morgan had told him. Reid kept it that way for awhile and just stared up at the white ceiling above him again. As he laid there in silence, he tried not to think of the cuts plaguing his body, though his hand seemed to wander unconsciously over the stab wound on his stomach.

"Reid?" Hotch sat up in his chair. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were awake."

"That's okay," Reid responded, looking towards Hotch.

"Feeling better?" Hotch asked.

"About the same. Still tired."

Hotch nodded. "Your doctor said you'll be tired for a few days. You might be able to leave the hospital in the next couple of days, but you'll need to take it easy and get plenty of rest."

"You're not sending me home, are you?"

"No," Hotch replied, but Reid could tell he probably _wanted_ to send him on a plane back to Virginia while the rest of them searched for Pierce. "You can go back to the hotel, but someone will stay with you. We still need to find Pierce."

"Morgan talked to you?" Reid finally asked.

"Yes," Hotch answered before immediately saying, "Reid, you don't have to."

"It's the only way, Hotch," Reid responded automatically.

"It doesn't mean you _have_ to, Reid."

"I know. But I want to."

Hotch was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "Okay. We'll discuss it more when you're released from the hospital. We won't do anything, though, until you're up for it."

"I am up for it."

"I know, Reid, but I meant your body. You need to be well enough to defend yourself in case something goes wrong," Hotch stated honestly.

Reid knew Hotch was right. Even the most well laid-out plans weren't one hundred percent foolproof, so one involving a murderer had to have all possible precautions in place. He just really hoped that precaution would remain an unnecessary one.

"What about Pierce's past?" Reid asked, changing the subject. "Did you find anything?"

"We found _something_," Hotch answered. "Garcia managed to dig up a police report of him finding a woman's body, Gracie Adams, but there's no indication that he knew her."

"Could she be his first victim?"

"No. The police caught her murderer, and there's strong evidence to go with it, so before you ask, it's not a case of being wrongfully accused."

Reid sighed. He couldn't understand why they couldn't find anything when the things they were looking for should almost be blaringly obvious. He knew he should be patient. If they didn't find anything now, they would at least be able to figure it out if they caught Pierce. _When_ they caught Pierce, he corrected as he once again found himself fighting his tired eyes...

The scene in his room stayed basically the same over the next couple of days. The team took turns staying with him. Reid slept most of the time, and when he wasn't asleep, he was avoiding his team members' efforts to get him to talk about what happened. He had told them _what_ happened, but he had told them in the mechanical sort of way of giving his statement rather than really acknowledging what he went through.

He was finally being released from the hospital, though, which he was grateful for. The sooner he was released, the sooner they could get a plan ready to lure out Pierce. Even with all the resting he was doing, he couldn't completely relax until this was over. And it wasn't over until Pierce was caught.

It was Rossi's turn to watch over him when he was being checked out from the hospital. Reid was itching to get out, but tried to wait calmly and patiently while all the paperwork was being finished. Rossi tried to keep him engaged with conversation, but Reid had a hard time concentrating on what he was saying...

_Reid tried to turn in his bed to get more comfortable, but he found the simple task impossible. He just didn't know why it was, though. Maybe his body was more tired than he thought. Maybe he just needed to rest a while longer. He could rest, even though he was due to be able to leave the hospital shortly. Rossi probably wouldn't mind waiting a little longer._

_Finally, Reid opened his eyes. He looked to see if Rossi was waiting impatiently or if he didn't mind that he had rested longer, but Reid's eyes only found an empty chair next to the bed. He glanced around the room, but Rossi was nowhere, and the bathroom was open and empty. Reid began to worry, because even with the minimal chance of Pierce knowing Reid was still alive, none of them would leave him alone, not even for a minute._

_It wasn't until Reid's second sweep of the room that he saw Rossi; he was laying on the floor by the bed, unmoving, and Reid couldn't tell if he was even breathing. Reid tried to get out of the bed but found he couldn't move. He looked to see why._

_There were handcuffs on both of his wrists, restraining each arm to rails on the sides of the bed. He tried to call out to Rossi, but again, he found that he couldn't. The dreaded duct tape was holding his mouth shut tight, and any attempt to call out for help was muffled into small grunts._

_It was then that Reid noticed the man standing at the foot of his bed, a despairingly familiar knife in hand and a wrongly delightful smile on his face. Reid struggled, uncaring of any damage being done to his wrists. This couldn't be happening again. It just couldn't._

"_Did you miss me, Doctor?"_

"Reid."

_Pierce took a step closer. "You weren't supposed to escape, Dr. Reid."_

"Reid!"

Reid's eyes shot open, and he tried to move away as Pierce's face swam above him.

"Reid! Relax, it's Rossi."

Reid relaxed slightly as Pierce's face slowly muddled into Rossi's. He tried to calm himself back down as he told himself it was only a nightmare. Pierce was nowhere near here, and Rossi was fine and uninjured.

"Sorry," Reid apologized quickly as he leaned back down on his bed.

"There's no need to be," Rossi assured him. "Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before."

Reid was too. He hadn't even realized until now that he had been blessed with peaceful sleep in the time since he had been admitted to the hospital. Too tired to dream was the only explanation he could think of for that.

"It's probably just the thought of leaving here and luring Pierce out," Reid reasoned out loud. "It's getting my mind all worked up."

"You're probably right," Rossi agreed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"It might help to talk about it, Reid," Rossi encouraged.

"I'm fine," Reid told him. He hoped he looked fine, because truthfully, he didn't really feel fine.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Prentiss met Rossi and Reid at the hospital and followed along to the hotel just to be safe, but they were sure that if Pierce hadn't attempted anything yet, that the man truly didn't know Reid had survived. Prentiss was going to take the first shift at the hotel with Reid, and Rossi would head back to the police station to help the others.

Reid slowly got out of the vehicle when they reached the hotel. He could tell Rossi and Prentiss were watching him closely, ready to help if he needed it. He didn't feel entirely stable on his feet yet, but he could manage just fine as long as he took his time.

The short trip to the room quickly wore Reid out, though, and he immediately lay down on the bed farther away from the door. He didn't bother to get under the covers. Instead, he let himself drift off as he heard the soft murmur of Rossi's voice coming from near the door. In his half-awake state and with Rossi's low tone, Reid couldn't understand what was being said, but he confidently presumed Rossi was warning Prentiss about his recent nightmare. He didn't want her to know, but he also knew the chances of having another one were decent enough that she would probably find out anyways. Not long later, the voices quieted, and Reid barely heard the door close behind Rossi on his way out...

When Reid woke, he assumed it was quite awhile later. Prentiss was sitting on the other bed with papers spread out in front of her, but she was looking at Reid, obviously having noticed him stirring. Reid was grateful that he had managed to rest without being interrupted by a nightmare.

"Hey," Prentiss greeted. "Are you okay?"

The tone of her question made him wonder if maybe he _had_ actually had a nightmare and just didn't remember it. It was very possible, and Prentiss could have easily noticed him being distressed in his sleep. As he thought this, a lingering image of Pierce appeared in his mind. It was probably a good thing that he didn't remember the dream.

"Yeah," Reid finally answered. "How is it that I'm not sick of sleeping yet?"

Prentiss simply went along with Reid's obvious attempt to hide the fact that he really wasn't okay. "I think the years of lack of sleep since you started working at the BAU are finally catching up with you," she joked lightly.

Reid smiled slightly, thankful that Prentiss didn't question him further, which was probably what any of the others would have done. Reid slowly sat on the edge of the bed, resting his forearms on his knees. A phone suddenly appeared in his line of vision.

"You should call Garcia," Prentiss explained when he gave her a questioning look. "She keeps calling and asking if you're awake yet."

Reid did as he was told and found Garcia's name in Prentiss's phone. "How's Reid? Is he awake yet?" Garcia asked immediately.

"I'm fine," Reid chuckled softly.

"Reid! Sweetie, how are you? You're always asleep when I call."

"Well, seeing as I'm sleeping a majority of the time, the chance of you calling when I'm awake isn't that good," Reid replied.

"I figured if I just waited you out, eventually you'd have to be awake."

_You and I are just going to wait them out._

A brief image of Pierce passed through Reid's mind before he could stop it. He knew memories could be triggered by simple things, but the memory was too vivid for his liking.

"Reid?"

Garcia's voice brought him back, but the feeling didn't go away. "Sorry," Reid apologized. "I, uh... I need to use the restroom."

Reid was very aware of Prentiss's worried gaze as he dropped the phone on the bed and got up—too quickly, he realized, as the room spun slightly. He ignored it, though, and went as quickly as he could to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He leaned forward with his hands on the sink and closed his eyes, willing the world to stop spinning and the images of Pierce to go away. He didn't know how long he stood like that when a soft knock sounded on the bathroom door, and Prentiss cautiously called his name. He turned on the faucet and splashed some water on his face before he opened the door to find Prentiss waiting there, as expected.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Reid answered. "I think I just need to lie down again," he said as he walked past her back into the bedroom, promptly lying down on his side facing away from Prentiss. The position wasn't very comfortable for him, but he stayed like that anyways. Again, he felt exhausted. He closed his eyes, hoping that he would feel better after he rested for awhile...

When he woke again, Morgan was just coming out of the bathroom, obviously having changed shifts with Prentiss while he had been asleep.

"Have a nice nap?"

Reid ignored Morgan's playful question, knowing Prentiss would have told him about what happened. He couldn't quite meet Morgan's efforts to keep the mood in the room up. He sat up, careful not to pull any of his stitches as he leaned back against the headboard of the bed, while Morgan sat down on the bed next to his, facing him.

"Hotch wants to come and discuss how we're going to lure Pierce out, if you're up for it."

Reid nodded. He was still tired, but he'd make himself be up for it if he had to. He just wanted this to be over.

"Alright, I'll let them know."

Reid let his mind wander as Morgan called Hotch. He didn't like it, but he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to that room, back to Pierce.

"They'll be here after awhile," Morgan said as he hung up the phone, but Reid didn't acknowledge that he had heard him. "Reid?"

Reid finally looked at Morgan as he called his name a second time. "What?"

"What's going on in that mind of yours?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing."

"Come on, Reid," Morgan urged. "Do you really think none of us have noticed your behavior? Every time we try to talk to you, you change the subject." Reid looked down at the bed, unable to look Morgan in the eye. "Don't pull away from us, kid. You know what that can do to a person."

Reid was silent at first, but finally answered, finally allowing himself to say what was on his mind. "I should be dead."

"Reid," Morgan started.

"No," Reid interrupted as he tried to find the words to explain. "If... So many little things could have gone differently, and... and if they had... I wouldn't be sitting here with you."

"But they didn't, Reid, and you _are_ sitting here with me," Morgan replied. "And that's all because of you and your will to live. You should give yourself more credit than I know you're giving yourself. You held on and didn't give up, even when Pierce essentially sentenced you to death."

"I'm just lucky he left me to die instead of just killing me then and there," Reid sighed.

"Stop questioning why he did that, Reid. It will keep eating at you, and you may never know the answer."

"I know," Reid responded, smiling slightly. "I just can't stop my mind sometimes."

"Yeah, I think we all know that," Morgan returned lightly.

"I can handle myself, you know," Reid said after a moment. "You all could be focusing on the case instead of taking turns babysitting me."

Morgan chuckled. "No offense, Reid, but right now you don't look like you could handle much of anything. You can hardly hold a decent conversation without falling asleep."

Reid leaned his back against the headboard, closing his eyes. "You're exaggerating."

"Am I?" Morgan smirked as there was a knock on the door. "I guess they're a little early."

Reid heard Morgan getting up to answer and let the rest of the team in. He knew he should sit back up and wake himself up, but it felt too good to relax with his eyes closed, and he felt better that he had finally verbalized to someone some of what he was feeling. He was hardly even aware that he was quickly beginning to drift off...

Something woke him. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was one of those times when he just knew something was wrong. He was instantly put on alert, and his eyes shot open. He swallowed slowly as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun—his own gun. He didn't have to look to know that the face behind it was Pierce.

He knew it wasn't a nightmare this time. It was real, _very_ real. Reid briefly wondered how Pierce had found out he was still alive or how he had even found him, but he knew that didn't really matter at the moment.

Only two thoughts passed through Reid's mind in the following silence: how had he gotten in? But more importantly, where was Morgan?


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments!**

* * *

Reid stayed still as his mind tried to process everything around him. The gun was less than a foot from his head. Morgan was nowhere in sight, and he himself was really in no state to fend off Pierce. The team was supposed to be here, but they weren't. Had Pierce been the one to knock on the door? Whatever the case, the team was still supposed to be coming to the room, hopefully very soon.

"H-how...?" Reid began, but he found he couldn't finish. He needed to stall. Pierce may have found him, but he couldn't know the team happened to be on their way.

"How what?" Pierce asked, smiling. "How did I know? How did I find you? I have a better question. How did _you_ manage live?"

"The human body is an interesting thing," Reid answered, repeating the words Pierce had said to him a few days ago. "It can endure quite a bit before it shuts down completely."

"Don't get smart with me! I should have just killed you and left!"

"You came back to the house to make sure I was dead, didn't you?" Reid asked. By Pierce's lack of response, Reid knew he was right. "Why didn't you try to get to me in the hospital?" Keep him talking, Reid thought.

"Too many variables, too easy to get caught," Pierce answered, nearly to the point of goading. "Didn't think I could be patient enough to wait for a better opportunity? Where there was only _one_ variable to take care of? I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting it to be this easy to get into the room."

"Where's Morgan?" Reid asked, knowing he was the variable Pierce was talking about.

"Assuming he's the agent who should be more careful about who he opens the door to, well, he's still by the door. But he's not going to be any help to you. It's just me and you again, Dr. Reid."

Morgan must be hurt. He could actually be dead, but Reid stopped himself from thinking like that. Pierce was here for him; he had no need to kill unnecessarily. At least Reid hoped he didn't.

"Shall we finish what we started?" Pierce asked.

Pierce lowered the gun and stuck it in the waistband of the back of his pants. Reid knew the knife would be coming out next, so he took the opportunity to lunge to the other side of the bed away from Pierce. He wasn't quick enough, though, and Pierce grabbed him before he could even make it off the bed. He could already feel the effects of his body's unwanted movements as the pain began to flare up.

Pierce forced Reid onto his back as Reid's body hardly had the ability to stop him. But just because he knew he wasn't even a close match to Pierce at the moment, didn't mean he didn't at least try to fight him off. Any effort he made was quickly stopped by Pierce, though. Pierce was above him again, straddling him much like when he had initially pulled Reid into the hidden room.

"Still refusing to give up?" Pierce asked with slight amusement as he was finally in control enough to pull out his knife.

"Who was Gracie?"

It was a dangerous question, Reid knew, but right now, it was his only option.

Pierce froze. "Gracie? _Gracie_ is none of your business!"

Reid continued when Pierce moved the knife closer again. "You found her body. Was she your girlfriend?" Reid chose to use girlfriend since there was no obvious relation between the two, and he was still certain they had to know each other.

"Why are you so damn curious about her? About everything?" Pierce was becoming borderline furious as he held the knife against Reid's throat. "Fine! You want to know why, Dr. Reid? Why I do this? I found my girlfriend dead!" Pierce paused, trying to calm himself. "Now, I know you know what it's like to see horrible images and not be able to forget them. But you _don't_ know what it's like to suddenly realize you _like_ seeing them!"

It finally dawned on Reid what Pierce had meant when he said he discovered he enjoyed seeing torture by accident. Admittedly, it was a sickening realization, even with everything Reid had seen on the job before.

A knock on the door was probably the sweetest sound Reid ever heard. Pierce looked towards the door, and Reid used Pierce's distraction to his advantage. He sent a punch towards Pierce's face and was amazed it was forceful enough to knock the man off balance slightly. Reid knew it was probably because of surprise more than strength, though. He rolled to the side to get away, but unfortunately, he was already at the edge of the bed, and he promptly fell onto the floor.

Reid grunted as he landed harshly, causing the pain to flare up again. He just needed to keep Pierce from killing him until his team found a way in the door. He prayed Hotch had a spare key or that someone on the hotel staff was around with one. The sooner they got in, the better, because he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep this up. He tried to scramble away, but he didn't get very far before Pierce was on him again in with the knife against his throat.

"You just be quiet, and they'll go away," Pierce ordered in a low tone.

"The only reason," Reid hissed, "that you were able to get in so easily, is because Agent Morgan was expecting someone else—my team." Reid had to admit that he enjoyed seeing a fearful look cross Pierce's face, but that feeling quickly went away as he spotted a prone figure near the door in his peripheral vision. He didn't dare a glance away from Pierce, though. "They aren't leaving this time."

True to Reid's word, the door burst open then. The next few moments seemed to happen in one quick blur to Reid. Pierce cursed a few choice words in his direction, angered by the fact that Reid had known the rest of the team was coming, and that once again, he had made a mistake by not killing him right away. That didn't stop him from trying now, though. Pierce hardly had to raise the knife for the gunshots to sound.

Pierce fell off of Reid to the side in a heap. Reid never liked to wish death upon anybody, even unsubs, but he was vicariously close to letting that notion pass right now. Reid slowly sat up, and Rossi helped him to his feet and led him a few feet away from Pierce as Hotch grabbed the knife and gun away from Pierce's limp form.

Prentiss was kneeling next to Morgan, who, Reid realized with relief, was beginning to stir. "He's fine," Prentiss answered Reid's unspoken question. "He was just knocked out."

Reid didn't think he could be grateful to hear words like that, but he was. He looked back towards Hotch, who confirmed with a shake of his head that Pierce was dead.

"Are you okay, Reid?" Rossi asked from next to him.

Reid nodded shortly. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

"I'm fine," Reid repeated as he moved his hand to his stomach. "I just pulled some stitches."

"Reid, maybe you should sit down," Hotch suggested.

Reid didn't know when Hotch had appeared beside him or why he had suggested for him to sit down. "I'm..." he began, but he realized he must have looked ready to pass out, because he suddenly felt it. "Uh... yeah," he finally agreed.

But before he could even move to sit, he felt himself beginning to slink to the floor. Only, he didn't have the chance to reach it; either Hotch or Rossi caught him before he could, but he couldn't tell which. Maybe both. He heard them calling his name too, but he couldn't answer. He could only let them lower him to the floor. One thought—a good one, finally—played through his mind as he felt himself slipping from semiconscious to unconscious: it was finally over.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

**I appreciate reviews and comments! Last Chapter!**

* * *

Reid sat silently in the corner by himself, simply enjoying listening to the hum of the plane and the accompanying silence in the cabin. They were a half hour into their flight home, and Reid was slightly surprised that everyone had let him have his space so far.

A body plopped into the seat across from him, and he wasn't really surprised to see that it was Morgan.

"So," Morgan began, "no fifth victim?"

"I've been thinking about that," Reid replied honestly, because Morgan obviously knew it was still bugging him. "I think Pierce was referring to Gracie Adams."

"He didn't kill her, Reid."

"I know," Reid said slowly as he looked out the window. "But I think the lines may have blurred for Pierce. He couldn't make the image of her body leave his head... and eventually realizing that he liked seeing those images... I think he began to feel guilty and blamed himself her death."

"Reid, you're nothing like him."

Reid looked at Morgan. "I know," he repeated. "But I know how it feels to want to push something from your mind, but can't."

"Chances are he would have snapped even if he didn't have a photographic memory, you know."

"Yeah..."

"Anyway," Morgan leaned forward, "the real reason I came over here was to properly apologize to you."

"For what?"

"For not looking who it was before I opened the door."

"You were expecting the rest of the team, and we had no reason to believe Pierce knew I was alive," Reid countered. "I probably would have done the same thing."

"He could have killed you, though... and me."

"But he didn't."

Morgan made a noise half-way between a chuckle and a grunt. Reid knew why. The conversation was sounding very similar to one they'd already had, but with their roles reversed. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Reid spoke.

"Hotch said they found a maid's key in Pierce's pocket that he must have lifted. He would have gotten in even if you hadn't opened the door."

"What?" Morgan asked. "Why didn't Hotch say anything to me?"

Reid glanced to the other side of the plane where Hotch was sitting. "Because, I'm sure he knows you'd still feel guilty until you talked to me." Reid looked back at Morgan. "And you'd talk to me sooner if you didn't know."

"What ever happened to the no profiling each other rule?" Morgan chuckled lightly.

"It gets thrown out the window on occasion," Reid smiled before sighing. "If you don't mind, I'm kind of tired, so I think I'm going to lay down for awhile."

Reid carefully got up from his seat and moved across the aisle to the couch as he heard Morgan saying, "I hope you know you're not going to be able to use that excuse so easily once you're better."

Reid smiled again as he lay down and closed his eyes. A couple minutes later, he felt the warmth of a blanket over him. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to return the teasing.

"I could get used to this," Reid mumbled quietly, pulling the blanket closer.

"In your dreams, kid."

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_Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength. ~ Unknown_

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**~ The End ~**

**I hope you enjoyed the story - let me know your final thoughts! Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing/alerting/favoriting! You people make may day(s)! :)**


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